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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian gold producer Goldcorp on Thursday reported that production stoppages at two of its operations this year would push its expected output down into the lower range of its full-year guidance.
Goldcorp on Tuesday suspended mining operations at its El Sauzal mine, in Chihuahua, Mexico, for safety reasons after the operation experienced movement in the highwall slope of the Trini pit.
Speaking at a mining conference in Toronto, CEO Chuck Jeannes revealed that the company was currently monitoring the continued movement, noting, however, that no failure of the highwall had occurred.
“We don’t know when we will be able to get back into the pit. In my opinion it may be weeks, it may be months, it may even be that in a worst-case scenario, we don’t get back in there,” he pointed out.
El Sauzal is in its last year of active mine life.
Jeannes explained that the stoppage would mean that between 60 000 oz and 70 000 oz of remaining gold output from the mine would be lost to Goldcorp. Combined with the month-long shutdown at Los Filos, also in Mexico, owing to a dispute with local landowners in April, Goldcorp now expected to achieve the lower end of its full-year guidance of between 2.95-million ounces and 3.1-million ounces of gold, still an improvement on last year’s total of 2.67-million ounces.
Jeannes stressed, however, that the company was looking forward to a “prolonged” period of production growth as three significant construction projects would be complete by 2015. The new gold mines under construction underpinned Goldcorp's growth profile and continued to advance steadily, with Cerro Negro pouring its first gold in July.
“Looking ahead, we are completing an exciting period of capital investment and, from a financial perspective, during 2015 we see capital spending tapering off, production increasing and costs declining, which is a great formula for financial success,” he noted.
Vancouver-based Goldcorp’s TSX-listed stock closed down more than 3%, or C$0.88 a share, on Thursday, at C$28.22 apiece.